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For the past couple of years, I have spent a lot of time on my personal development. I find that the more I learn about myself, the more I want to know. It never ends!

It took me more than 4 years to gain clarity on my strengths and my values, and how I want to experience my journey as a leader to create positive change in manufacturing environments. Many times the negative little voice in my head has pushed my limits by asking: "Who are you, a girl from a small village in Austria, to think that you can change the mindset in the manufacturing industry in North America?" Countless times I have let myself become discouraged from this nagging inner voice. Numerous times I had to convince myself that I see things others can't see just yet, and I have often questioned my potential to make it happen.

The amazing thing is that every time you fall there is a lesson to be learned, and when you learn, it's time to get up and give it another try.

As a leader, how many times do you allow yourself to make mistakes? How many times do you allow the people around you to make mistakes?

My grandma in Austria always used to say...., "Make mistakes, just don't make the same mistake twice. Mistakes are there to learn and if you are open-minded, you will learn the lesson behind it."

To this day I take her advice to heart and it has served me well many times.

Over the years, I certainly had to learn my lessons and every lesson I learned has taken me one step closer to my goal.

I have learned to silence my little voice.

I have learned to believe in myself and what's possible.

I have learned to trust my female intuition.

I have learned to understand the value I have to offer.

I have learned to conquer my fears.

I have learned to see obstacles and roadblocks as opportunities to learn and to grow.

I have learned that nobody can get to the next level without experiencing adversity.

And last but not least, I have learned that the power of inspiration can move people from mediocre to excellence.

Part of my development is to read many books on leadership, motivation, workforce engagement, training and coaching. You may agree that there is nothing new under the sun in these books, but there are certainly many things that we may already know, yet we don't put into practice.

Knowing does not equal doing, and I think all of us still have a lot of potential to turn our knowledge into action. Did you know that we judge others by their actions but we judge ourselves by our intentions?

It took me a while, but finally I started to understand. Leadership is a journey and not a destination. We have to experience certain lessons first and these lessons cannot be learned from books. That's why these lessons are called life lessons.

The attributes of true leadership are honesty and integrity, authenticity, responsibility, the will to inspire and act, passionate communication skills, the drive to innovate and create, to name a few.

However, I believe the real stuff leaders are made of is when they live their values out loud. That's where leadership has its roots. That's when a leader becomes inspiring. That's when leadership is real.

Every leader in history has had his or her challenges and they all learned to face their fears and overcome their obstacles. Reading their biographies is very inspiring and insightful.

What do you stand for and is it inspiring for other people?

What do you believe in and how do you show that?

What keeps you awake at night and do you allow yourself to be vulnerable enough to let other people know, so that they can help you to find a solution?

In my life, I have come to the realization that I cannot teach anything to other people if I don't live it myself. I cannot expect anything from other people if I don't set my own standards first. Is it easy? Certainly not. However, I make every effort to raise the bar higher for myself than anyone else would. I try to do my best to lead by example.

It is my strong belief that we have to develop more leaders. Interestingly, these leaders do not need to have a title. I believe we have enough followers. We need more people who set a great example in the way they lead their personal and professional life. If individuals become aware how much their attitudes and behaviours impact the people around them, they will want to learn more about themselves and that's the stuff true leaders are made off.

By making every effort to be the best person you can be every single day, you will lead by example and you will see that others will want to follow.

Be the BEST You Can Be!

Karin

If you want to be a leader who attracts quality people, the key is to become a person of quality yourself. Leadership is the ability to attract someone to the gifts, skills and opportunities you offer as an owner, as a manager, as a parent. I call leadership the great challenge of life.

What's important in leadership is refining your skills. All great leaders keep working on themselves until they become effective. Here are some specifics:

1) Learn to be strong but not rude. It is an extra step you must take to become a powerful, capable leader with a wide range of reach. Some people mistake rudeness for strength. It's not even a good substitute.

2) Learn to be kind but not weak. We must not mistake kindness for weakness. Kindness isn't weak. Kindness is a certain type of strength. We must be kind enough to tell somebody the truth. We must be kind enough and considerate enough to lay it on the line. We must be kind enough to tell it like it is and not deal in delusion.

3) Learn to be bold but not a bully. It takes boldness to win the day. To build your influence, you've got to walk in front of your group. You've got to be willing to take the first arrow, tackle the first problem, discover the first sign of trouble.

4) You've got to learn to be humble, but not timid. You can't get to the high life by being timid. Some people mistake timidity for humility. Humility is almost a God-like word. A sense of awe. A sense of wonder. An awareness of the human soul and spirit. An understanding that there is something unique about the human drama versus the rest of life. Humility is a grasp of the distance between us and the stars, yet having the feeling that we're part of the stars. So humility is a virtue; but timidity is a disease. Timidity is an affliction. It can be cured, but it is a problem.

5) Be proud but not arrogant. It takes pride to win the day. It takes pride to build your ambition. It takes pride in community. It takes pride in cause, in accomplishment. But the key to becoming a good leader is being proud without being arrogant. In fact I believe the worst kind of arrogance is arrogance from ignorance. It's when you don't know that you don't know. Now that kind of arrogance is intolerable. If someone is smart and arrogant, we can tolerate that. But if someone is ignorant and arrogant, that's just too much to take.

6) Develop humor without folly. That's important for a leader. In leadership, we learn that it's okay to be witty, but not silly. It's okay to be fun, but not foolish.

Lastly, deal in realities. Deal in truth. Save yourself the agony. Just accept life like it is. Life is unique. Some people call it tragic, but I'd like to think it's unique. The whole drama of life is unique. It's fascinating. And I've found that the skills that work well for one leader may not work at all for another. But the fundamental skills of leadership can be adapted to work well for just about everyone: at work, in the community and at home.